F2P Land Needs a Reason to Play

[molten remnant]

Currently F2P will be able to build a land the same as owners, this land will produce all the same stuff but it will not hold any benefits. So why would I play it? I’m going to dedicate hours and money to play a free piece of land which has no end game no meaning no interaction other then building a building. There needs to be mini games inside of the game. Or incentive especially for the F2P guy. I figure the F2P should be our highest focus come main launch as I’m wanting millions of people to fall in love with it for free spend their hard earned money so as an investor I’m benefiting and hopefully they decide to go purchase land not just F2P

[wind kiln]

Did you ever play Simpsons tapped out?

[rose matrix]

This is a great point. Added benefit and rewards should be there. I remember Kieran mentioning non-custodial wallet so is it that blueprints and other discoveries go to this wallet where the F2P player can buy and resell if they want to? or can it hold it for them and can be extracted once land is purchased by this player?

Other alternative would be to create a clash of clans type of game on the IZ assets. can be PVE or PVP and give F2P players a loop. A game loop is needed wither way to give ppl incentive to play that is beyond potential of NFT and earning a little money.

[rugged bridge]

While there are other F2P (with micro transactions) games that have been successful, IZ has an interesting framing challenge. Just because F2P players know that others can generate resources that have monetary value is a mental hurdle to overcome. People don't like being left out. I agree with the intent of the post, and to truly achieve full monetization value from the product development investment, there needs to be some hook. PVP gets part of the way there, but I would love to see the potential for unique items (account bound, not tradeable) only obtainable from F2P plots. To keep it interoperable, are there accessories, achievements, or something for people to flex their accomplishments in F2P IZ? F2P only leaderboards? As there's currently less than 7000 wallets holding land, it feels like an area of investment to ensure IZ reaches millions of other potential mobile gamers, acknowledging this very real mental framing issue.

[molten remnant]

I have briefly and then got bored since there was nothing to actually play for. And this brings up my point. You want to dig hooks into people and keep them not appease for a brief time. We don’t need clash of clans but something to keep the attention would help us all benefit. Other wise we’re relying on people who are trying to make money from the game to spend money on the game just in turn try to make money and we end up in this loop where we aren’t all profiting the way we could

[rugged bridge]

i'll say i actually enjoy city builder game play and optimization. I'm enjoying the alpha right now and it's not just from a "practice run" for when i can generate something of value. Something I am already hungering for is a hard reset on my F2P plot to get back to the challenges of the early game to see if i can do it differently. Offering F2P seasons, or the option of engaging in seasons where players see how much they can optimize for a fixed period of time. offer achievements, recognition, leaderboard for who can do the best over a period of time. Also offering F2P plots the ability to change region to keep background fresh also adds a unique experience and engagement.

i could also see development of specific scenarios for F2P play through - build it into the lore, but something like collect 200 solon from a plot that has no solon resource sites within X play hours.

[molten remnant]

But these are things that feed off what I’m saying it really doesn’t matter what the addition is to the F2P there just needs to be an objective or incentive to come back and spend money. After the initial rush of paid people getting their lands moving I feel like money will stop coming in so F2P is the target audience. Paid people are here to play.. F2P can play Simpsons tapped out…

[vague trench]

Yah completely agree, not really sure what the simpsons tapped out reference means but without a game loop or incentive there is no replayability after a certain lvl for F2P players

[molten remnant]

I was just being a smart a** cause fraggy was saying Simpson tapped out was a successful city builder without any other aspects to it

[spiral heath]

ILVZ is an investment gamification. Its like being rewarded to stack something. But you have to play to receive more or less APY. I agree with you, why people would like to buy something in the game if there are no goal. Perhaps the solution is to remove f2p version until there is a New goal. Or you can just play it waiting this added... but you dont have to compare F2P to Holder because holder have already their goal. Its like 2 different game with the same application

[small star]

I think F2P plot is a good way to learn the game whats important and what is less imp. First I tried the F2P plot before jumping to the T1 plot. And its way more easier and less mistake to commit. Since every time counts if you playing competitive soon. Like there is no room for error. And I think thats one of the reason why people should play F2P plot.

[rugged bridge]

Trial is a good F2P use to enable individuals to experience the game before jumping into buying land. However, that's inherently limited to a maximum of 100k individuals. I think the focus here is how to engage and retain users in the game to grow scope and audience to millions.

[small star]

maybe adding F2P plot a fake/alternative fuel where you need 100x Fcrypton to produce 1 crypton that can be sell on the market

its a F2P with earning potential but with lower production and it will take time. and a T0 F2P plot. To make T1 land still better and convinient to play.

[rugged bridge]

the risk of providing direct comparison fuel (even at an extreme ratio) is ability to "bot" land. Since there is no limit to number of T0 plots, it would potentially be possible for someone to create a land bot farm to create fuel. That's where having benefits being account bound or alternate rewards may be critical

[small star]

Thats why F2P being a F2P with no earning. Use for trial/experimemtal plot is already good reason to play the game. Especially if you value your time and dont want to make any mistake in a real land.

[rose matrix]

@rugged bridge I like your idea where F2P plots earn unique non-tradable nfts or maybe we call them something else. From a world of warcraft perspective, it is the concept of BOP vs BOE. I do think this is a very important point that maybe can result in an IIP.

[molten remnant]

Yes I’m not looking for F2P to make money off the game I’m looking for them to have a reason to spend money so us as ILV holders can make more money. As a land holder it’s irrelevant if the F2P market is a success because I stand to make nothing except fuel/blueprint sales. But as an investor the more revenue generated the more I receive. So anything they produce I would love to be successful so I see the highest return

[patent mica]

Maybe just the ability to earn the same nfts as F2P overworld?

[gloomy sage]

What if there is a monthly ranking, via the lvl of the player, that allows F2P players to enter a raffle where they could win prizes ? Like a T1 land, fuel or others ?

[gloomy sage]

I played lots of F2P and always found the prestige you speak about by not spending a dime in those 😂 sure some people will pour their money in a F2P to rank up the charts, mainly cause they understand nothing of game mechanics and just want a shortcut to top ranks. I always felt they accept this as a weakness and just tell themselves « well I can afford it so why the grind ? » you need to imply some kind of competition for them to whale the game, but I don’t see any possible competition/scoring pattern in the actual state of the game. If people can afford they’ll just directly buy a land and pour their money in the shop. I don’t possibly see a way for whales to start the game F2P mode and spend their money into a sinkhole where there is no ranking/reward system while a T1 owner could easily make more rewards with less investment.

[gloomy sage]

I think you are reasoning web2-like, in F2P games (or P2W for many) there is just one path, the one all players have to take to rank in those charts, and there is no owning a single asset in an F2P. You spent to reach goals in that one-path that everyone has to take, and in those games, there are many, many achievements for sure, that make the player want to stay and unlock the next one but (not fudding ILZ here) those games are meant to last months, years to say where spending gives sense of achievement. Whales will go faster, achieve in a week or two where the F2P will take those months/year to achieve, that was the ingame mechanics I was mentioning, they go deep into the game while whale will just touch the surface for most (maybe not you but I crossed paths with many) Here we have a game, with a Nexus9 that can be reached in few weeks, then the purpose of the game starts here, owning, selling fuel, Play2Earn mechanics unlocks. Which I think is great because we are all here for this. And it doesn’t take a year to max out your land. Imagine a whale getting to the store in the F2P land, spends its money and reaches the Nexus 9 in 10 minutes, he might simply go meeh and think that’s it. Sure it will do good for Illuvium cause he spent, but that won’t hold him to play (or if he buys a land in the process) cause, not like the F2P out there with infinite quests/achievement and unlocks, this web3 game is focused on something else. I get your points but I was trying to find a way where there could be meaning for someone to keep on playing F2P and not wave it because it took less than hour to reach the top. (Sorry for the packed sized text ahah, on my phone rn)

[willow latch]

problem with f2p land, can be botted easily

unlike f2p overworld very low chance to be botted

[gloomy sage]

Well the competition/scoreboards aspect in Illuvium here is already covered by the Arena. I personally give a rats a** if someone has a « competition » with me racing land, cause I’ll just mind my own business with mines 😂 we are trying here to find a way for people to use the F2P and keep playing it, I think we are drifting from the subject

[halcyon badge]

Gods unchained style we could fuse two f2p fuel into one tier 1 fuel and same for t1, etc. that way owners still also benefit

[rose matrix]

I like what Kieran said yesterday that he wishes to see clash of clan style for IZ. Creating a pvp element is what will bring and keep ppl playing.

[molten remnant]

I don’t think there should be a dollar amount awarded for playing the game because that takes away from the investors but some incentive would be nice. Maybe like others have suggested a leader board and top person per “season” is able to get something of value.. either in overworld or IRL.
Could turn the F2P into top 100 peoples progress is awarded crates and in each crate has fuel for Overworld or an illuvial package or something along those lines but I wouldn’t directly compete with your other land owners because that would take away from what we payed already to do

[molten remnant]

This could be cool but how would it work for paid land? Someone could come and steal hundreds of dollars from me while I’m sleeping?

[molten remnant]

I agree with the botting but your going to get that anyways. The idea is to have people spend money. I don’t care if number 1 is a bot and get awarded 10 shards for overworld. I care that the other 99 tried as hard as they could to get to that number 1 spot and spent hundreds of dollars in the process

The reward is legit just incentive can be what ever the devs decide it to be. And who cares who wins it the only thing I want is people to pay as much money into the game that they can afford

[molten remnant]

This is true and I would hope the team would be able to do something like this to try and ensure fair play before doing something again just some ideas. Who knows maybe it stays just a builder

[young peak]

Here is an idea(maybe i stole this from josh :|). t0 Land = t0 blueprints which unlock t0 Skins in OW. None of these would be tradable or have value outside the game

• You can scan only t0 illuvials on t0 Land
  • Perhaps these t0 illuvials could also be found on higher tier land (making the scanner more successful)
• You need to play t0 land to get t0 blueprints
• These blueprints would work like current Closed Beta OW when you research a t0 blueprint that unlocks t0 skins inside OW but you still have to craft them

[frank quartz]

I raised this during the last town hall. I also think we should have something in T0 land, I also shared that T0 blue prints etc for skins should be obtainable. I think they could be made bind on account and non trade able if necessary. Ultimately if they decide to go down the allow illuvial capture runs like on the idea I posted up T0 land could give access to those. Ultimately something is needed because T0 land could be a power house of an onboarding tool.

[young peak]

I don’t think it needs to be that way. If you want t0 stuff nothing is stopping you from also playing a t0 land.

[vocal orbit]

I think that Immortal Game showcased a good example of paid/free elements that make the game enjoyable on both ends. One leaderboard is for points earned with paid pieces, but there is an entirely different leaderboard set up for only free to play. Both leaderboards reward cash that can be used to buy more premium pieces. This gives both sides an incentive to play, but never tips the scale in favor of the paid side.

What you have instead is a ladder of progression that is climbed quicker with pay mechanics, but will NOT knock free users lower down on their climb

Not saying that’s what you were saying, just thoughts that seemed relevant

[young peak]

IMO landowners are due what was originally stated during land sale. If it is better for the DAO to not give landowners everything they want then that is my preference. I am a DAO, team maximalist and I think catering to 6.5k players in an over million player ecosystem would be a mistake.

[molten remnant]

But with that idea it wouldn’t be forcing anyone to play T0 you have the option to. And if this came to fruition I wouldn’t want my T1+ land to produce a T0 skin because the T0 would be account bound and worthless so it would be a waste of my time and resources. The T0 would only have access to that worthless skin where we would have access to the blueprint to make money off of. I understand on the collection standpoint but this is more an investment then collection based game. And in order to make more money we want the F2P people to be willing to join and spend. As a land owner I want to spend as little as possible but make as much as possible. And I’m assuming a good portion of people will be the same.

[rugged gate]

When I ran for council this epoch one of the reasons was to try and push for a way to monetize T0 lands. My 2 ideas at the time were:

1. Treat T0 lands how we treat T0 areas in Overworld. My idea was to have T0 blueprints obtainable and sellable from T0+ lands. The value would be there at the beginning, but because it's infinitely farmable, the value will decrease to a small value eventually, like T0 illuvials. This also gives a reason later to farm T0 illuvials in Overworld because they are needed to forge the T0 skins.

2. Have season leaderboards that reward T1 lands to top 1 to 3 players. These would be bought by the DAO using a portion of T0 revenue from in game purchases from players buying speed ups or cosmetic items for their T0 land.

[molten remnant]

The issue is bots on the second part. We would need a way to keep from bot farming for free land

[rugged gate]

Considering the land data should be saved server side, let them bot and waste their money because at the end the season the devs should be able to do server analysis on their land and determine if there was botting or not.

[rose matrix]

Why complicate things when you can make non-tradable blueprints or nfts. Everyone is happy this way and still a reason to play.